Cashmere’s blood boiled. The audacity Ivoree had needed to be studied. As badly as she wanted to get up and face her sister properly, something told her that if she stopped putting pressure on Twizz’s wound, he would die. The gurgling sounds coming from him really weren’t a good sign.
With her eyes on Twizz, she said, “Fuck me? Bitch, do you know what I’ve done for you? All this shit is for you!”
Cashmere whirled her head around the space to indicate the damn mansion they lived in.
Ivoree scoffed. “You think you saved me? Huh? You didn’t. You left me. You left me with our crazy ass drugged out parents. Do you really think that was the first time Daddy tried to sell me? Bitch, he been did that shit. The moment you left was the moment they decided my young ass pussy was worth somethin’.”
Every one of Ivoree’s words hit Cashmere right in the heart with an electric stab. Her head dropped as she shook it sadly. “You never told me.”
“For what? What would telling you fix? You think you did all this for me to save me? No, bitch, you did it because you fuckin’ owe me. You left me there with them. Everything that happened was your fault. I deserved all this shit, and I deserve Sav.” Ivoree stomped her foot like a child as she gestured the gun in Savio’s direction.
“Everyone needs to calm the fuck down. Lower your gun, Ivoree, so we can all talk,” Savio tried to reason.
Cashmere heard the rage just under his tone. She could see the storm brewing within him. Their gazes met, and she pleaded her apologies to him with her eyes. He nodded slightly, which let her know he forgave her.
Her heart only had one second to feel a slice of relief.
“See what I’m talking about? You always get everything good! I deserve good things too!” Ivoree screeched as she jumped up and down like a toddler who couldn’t get a treat after finishing their dinner.
Cashmere’s eyes grew wide as she watched her sister in confusion.
“Vee—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Ivoree snapped, and she fired a shot that just barely missed Cashmere.
Cashmere flinched and fell on top of Twizz, who still gurgled. Blood came out of his mouth, and Cashmere murmured a pained sorry to him before she focused on Ivoree. Only her sister wasn’t where she had just been seconds ago.
Ivoree was now on the ground as Savio wrestled with her for the gun. Ivoree kneed Savio in the groin, and he grunted before he grabbed her by the hair and smashed her head intothe carpeted floor. Although she was dazed, Ivoree kept an iron-tight grip on the gun, and she now had it aimed at Savio.
“Stop!” Cashmere screeched.
She hadn’t meant to stop tending to Twizz, but her feet carried her to Savio, who now stood in front of Ivoree. Cashmere wedged her way between the two and wrapped her legs around Savio’s waist as a shield.
“I love him, Vee. I love him,” Cashmere said through tears as he buried her head into his neck. The words tumbled out of her as she clung to him. She had never spoken anything truer than those words. She loved Savio, and the depth of her love was bottomless. She proved that with Ivoree. There wasn’t a thing she wouldn’t do for him. Her heart ached that it took this situation to pull that up out of her.
Savio kissed her cheek before he started to turn them so his back would be facing Ivoree and Cashmere would be protected from the gun.
“You bitch.”
A second of silence followed Ivoree’s declaration before gunshots rang out. She and Savio were visible to Ivoree at that point, since he had only managed to turn halfway, and Cashmere’s heart dropped down to the bottom of her feet. Her eyes clenched, preparing for the worst.
When she realized she didn’t feel any pain and Savio hadn’t dropped her, she opened her eyes.
The sight before her devastated her. Savio quickly put her down and rushed toward Twizz, who had a gun in his hand. The gun that had shot her sister. Cashmere’s knees gave out, and she landed right next to her sister, who lay there in a pool of blood with a hole right between her eyes.
“No,” Cashmere whispered. Her mind refused to process what she saw as she grabbed Ivoree’s hand.
Ivoree’s eyes stared straight forward at nothing as Cashmere rocked back on her butt.
“Come on, man. You gonna be aight,” Savio coached. Cashmere knew Savio was having his own crisis right now, but she couldn’t bring herself to tend to him. How could she when her entire life had just been altered.
What was life for Cashmere without Ivoree?
“No,” Cashmere whispered again, but she realized she needed to form new words. Words that could actually help the situation. With the last bit of her strength, she looked behind her at Savio with tears in her eyes and said, “Call Cell.”
After that, Cashmere buried her head in her hands and let out a soul-stirring cry.
It had beenan entire month since Cashmere left the house and five weeks since tragedy struck.
